Closing a B2B sale is a process that involves understanding your customer and making them believe that your product or service will without a doubt improve their business. Your entire sales process should be built around that principal.
9 Expert Tips on Closing B2B Sales:
1. “How do you get your 1%?,” asks Ravi Kompella, Director, Enterprise Sales for Salesforce. “I guess the best way to address this is by going back to the drawing board and figure out if you have done everything REALLY well. Keeping your customer warm throughout the sales cycle can give you information you never thought would get, which in turn can be used to get your 1%.”
2. “In the past, sales people were taught that skills such as ‘pitching’, ‘differentiation’ (USP’s) and ‘closing’ were essential for winning business,” writes Laurie Smith, Director & Executive Coach. “Nowadays, these ‘techniques’ have no relevance in the modern business environment. They need to take on a far wider range of skills and competencies that they may not have been aware of or exposed to before (that of a researcher, educator, negotiator, accomplished communicator, business expert, insight-provider, trusted adviser and value creator).”
3. “Forget closing tactics,” says Jeffrey Gitomer, King of Sales author and speaker. “They’re worn. They’re awkward. They’re manipulative. And they don’t put you in a very “professional” light. What you have failed to uncover is the prospect’s motive to buy what you’re selling. You’re looking for a tactic when what you really need is a better strategy.”
4. “Why didn’t you hang up already?” asks Steli Efti, the CEO at CEO at Close.io. “I’m sure you’ve hung up on many other people who cold called you, so why are you still on the line with me? Why did you open my email or respond to it? What exactly about my email sparked your interest? Ask this question early in the conversation. The answer will guide your approach to the conversation, tell you which angle to use when conveying benefits of your product, and which questions to ask to keep them engaged. It’s a shortcut to gaining real insights into their wants and needs, so you have a more targeted conversation.”
5. “In other words, if you’ve earned the right to ask for a sale, ask for the sale then say nothing,” writes Lewis Greene, Recruitment Director at Globaleye Wealth Management. “The temptation to talk is great but once you learn how to resist the temptation and how to close your mouth, your sales closing percentages will increase.”
6. “Master closers know the outcome long before they get to the end of the process and the reason is; they have a well-qualified prospect, they know the prospect’s dominant buying motives, they have identified all the potential objections before they were even expressed, they have carefully observed the various buying signals from the prospect and they gave an effective and interactive presentation,” said David Shultz, CEO & President of Market Share Consultants. “They know long before they ask their closing question what the answer will be.”
7. “Don’t worry about closing the sale, instead, focus on making a authentic connection with your customer,” says Dale Carnegie instructor Doug Stewart. “Asking quality questions about their work their needs and their life. This will open the door for you to talk about your product. Once they trust you and believe you have their best interest in mind, they will buy from you if you have a product that will in fact meet their needs. All you will need to do is ask.”
8. “It is vital NOT to use a close before you have confirmed that your prospect is ready to make a commitment,” writes Australian sales guru Peter McKeon. “If you do, they will feel pressured and the stress level will go up. Use a trial close instead. You should make closing easy and natural, not uncomfortable. Once you know it’s time to ask for a commitment you don’t need any tricky closing techniques. A simple question to gain commitment is all that is needed.”
9. “A deep understanding of your client and the political process they must navigate within their organizations is essential to how to make a sale,” says John Shea, CEO of the Alignment Group. “There is no comparable step in the buyer’s journey to what is happening politically within your prospect’s organization. The people, process, politics, agendas, and other projects on the plate are unique to each company. Understanding the political landscape, players and agendas is well beyond the buyer’s journey and sales process, but critical to closing leads; inbound and outbound.”